VISTA is on its way!!

[Caged]

The guys on the phone don't know the ins and outs of licensing for some reason, so they will often reactivate despite what the license agreement says. Whether this overrides what the EULA says, I don't know.

If you get them to do it, great, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it either. My original post was made in order to help people not make the wrong decision when purchasing - like Gibbo said, they may clamp right down on it this time around, so assuming it's going to work the same as XP did is short sighted.

Aidoscuz - applying an upgrade to an OEM license doesn't change the fact that it's still an OEM license. As far as I am aware you could move the upgrade between machines, but not the original piece of software that it's upgrading.

 

[Meatball]

I think I'll buy the Vista Upgrade Home Premium OEM, the price is right I think I will have to buy a retail version though as I'll be upgrading my CPU, Memory and motherboard in the near future

EDIT: Sorry if it's been answered earlier on Gibbo but is it worth me pre-ordering a copy now or will there be enough to go around come release?

 

[Gibbo]

A "machine" is a motherboard, so a motherboard change would count as a new machine, and requires a new license. Just because Microsoft will activate it when a user calls up to say something broke, doesn't mean that it's within the terms of the license to do this.

The only time a motherboard can be replaced and the same OEM license used is when there is a failure, and even then that's under very strict conditions which have already been outlined in the thread.

OEM is a great deal if you shove it on a PC and then that PC stays as one unit, and gets sold on / handed down with the software when you're bored with it, but if you part them up and sell the bits, the software license dies with it.

Hi there

Now this is a bit pedantic. A Machine is not a motherboard, a machine consist of CPU, RAM, VGA, HDD, DVD-ROM, Case etc. When I rang them I merely basically said I changed motherboard, windows had a fit and need re-installing, but on re-installation my hardware allowance/changes were up. They were understanding and just gave me a new key. Nothing dodgy or sinsister about it they understood and issued a key without issue.

Some people just tell Microsoft their PC crash, what people decide to tell MS is upto them but on the whole they seem quite understanding.

At the end of the day I think Microsoft understand that during the 3-5yr period their operating system is out for that several users might upgrade their PC or it may have stability issues, need repairing or a re-installation. When these problems arise Microsoft are understanding and are fine about it.

I have stated Microsoft may change their view with Vista and enforce their own rules so don't buy OEM thinking they may let you get away with upgrading your PC frequently. As I say if you want peace of mind buy the retail.

Hey if I could make the option for you guys I would love you to all buy retail copies, afterall thats a lot more turnover for me.

 

[Caged]

I totally agree that it's a bit pedantic, I was coming at the situation from the POV of the license, rather than my own personal viewpoint, in an attempt to make people aware of what you've been saying Re: the possibility of Microsoft changing their minds.

 

[Tom|Nbk]

Gibbo what did you have to provide M$ with when you needed the key reactivating?

gibbo?

 

[Gibbo]

gibbo?

Follow the on-screen instruction and have the athentic sticker/logo thing handy that will be stuck on your PC or on the XP casing etc.

 

[Burnsy2023]

Does anyone know if there are any differences in how many times you can reactivate between Retail and Upgrade versions? I currently have an OEM copy of XP Home, so if I buy an Upgrade version of Vista Home Premium, will I be able to re-activate if I get a new motherboard?

You won't be licenced as your qualifying product will no longer be valid because of the MB change. You can activate as many time as needed as long as you don't violate the terms of the EULA.

Burnsy

 

[Things change I've changed]

Well I'm living in skint city atm but what with all this confusion over 32bit/64bit and now whether or not Microsoft will be as willing to re-issue activation codes as easily as they did with XP I think I'm going to have to purchase a Retail version

<goes and crys in a corner with debit card in hand>

Gibbo what did you have to provide M$ with when you needed the key reactivating?

Usually when you try to reactivate and it fails after a motherboard change for example you will have a large product ID number that is on screen, they will usally ask you what that number is, this number is used to confirm that you have an original version of windows XP, once confirmed they will issue you with an activation id number that they will read to you over the phone, you will enter this number into a group of empty boxes on screen and then once applied your copy of windows xp will be reactiveted again .

 

[Caged]

Well I'm living in skint city atm but what with all this confusion over 32bit/64bit and now whether or not Microsoft will be as willing to re-issue activation codes as easily as they did with XP I think I'm going to have to purchase a Retail version

<goes and crys in a corner with debit card in hand>

You could always wait and see if other people have trouble with it.

 

[Burnsy2023]

Hi there

Now this is a bit pedantic. A Machine is not a motherboard, a machine consist of CPU, RAM, VGA, HDD, DVD-ROM, Case etc. When I rang them I merely basically said I changed motherboard, windows had a fit and need re-installing, but on re-installation my hardware allowance/changes were up. They were understanding and just gave me a new key. Nothing dodgy or sinsister about it they understood and issued a key without issue.

Gibbo, this area is a total minefield and I can totally understand why you posted what you did, however, Caged is correct; MS does define a machine as the MB as it is the 'heart of the machine'.

It may seem padantic and silly, but technically an MB change would render an OEM licence worthless. It's not just a technicality either, it is highly likely that MS will start to tighten up on giving out avtivation codes to what are fundamentally unlicenced products. MS have been very sloppy in doing this in the past, but I expect this is due to the difficulty in identifying what users have done exactly.

Anyway, the rest of your advice stands and if people are worried, they should buy the retail copy

Burnsy

 

[FirebarUK]

If you don't think the software is worth the asking price, don't use it.

Well that would be ideal, unfortunately MS corner us gamers into needing it for DX10.

 

[Vertigo]

Firstly, I'm a bit torn between the upgrade and OEM versions of Home Premium. OEM is the obvious choice but I'll almost certainly change my motherboard a few times within the lifetime of Vista so the upgrade would be the sensible choice. That said I could stick with the OEM and MS would probably dish out activations to me anyway. I've been using an OEM copy of XP Pro for 5 years and through numerous motherboard changes and they've never failed to give me a code yet so unless they're going to tighten up the rules on this, should I just stick with OEM Vista?

Secondly, I find it hilarious how many people are going with Ultimate over HP for no real reason whatsoever. From what I can tell the only advantages of Ultimate are Remote Desktop and a few business features. I'd wager that 95% of those going with Ultimate are doing purely for bragging rights.

 

[ImMrChris]

a few quotes off the net

Fewer than 5 percent of PC users ever open a PC case let alone perform major hardware surgery.

I think that a license agreement needs to be written in language that's as plain and clear as possible. After all, the majority of users faced with such agreements don't have the benefit of a huge law firm on retainer to help explain it to them. I also dislike agreements that rely on policies that aren't included as part of the agreement. If you are a PC enthusiast who regularly upgrades your PC, you fall into a gray area in terms of the license agreement

"This is a fairly rare thing," Boettcher [Shanen Boettcher,Microsoft general manager] said. "Edge cases can be accommodated through customer support, but it's a relatively small group: People who are building their own PCs; hard core enthusiasts." Long story short, you'll have to talk to a human being and explain what happened. Just as you have had to do with XP.

Again, this worries me because the small number of PC users who probably spent the most money on hardware and software are having their rights eroded away in the license agreement and are instead having to rely on undocumented internal guidelines and policy. I know that this is only going to affect a small number of users, but why not cater for them? It might push that 14 page license document out a page or so, but who cares about that?

Overall, I'm still concerned by the changes made to the Vista licensing agreement. If the number of users that are moving the operating system from one system to another PC are small, why does Microsoft find it necessary to remove these rights from a small number of enthusiasts. Alarm bells should be ringing and people should be worried. But then there’s so few of them, it really doesn’t matter that much …

Does it matter to you?

and Microsoft wonder why people have hacked versions of thier software

 

[Things change I've changed]

You could always wait and see if other people have trouble with it.

WHAT !!!!!111!!!11111!!11, and miss out and on all the fun , I only wish I was that patient.

 

[Vertigo]

One other thing...

I currently have XP Pro OEM. If I order the Home Premium Upgrade can anyone (ideally yourself Gibbo) positively confirm two things:

1. That it will still let me do a clean install into an empty partition and will simply prompt for my XP Pro CD (and possibly serial) during installation?

2. That, when prompted for the XP Pro CD, the OEM one I have will work (i.e. I don't need a full retail CD/serial?)

 

[Caged]

WHAT !!!!!111!!!11111!!11, and miss and on all the fun , I only wish I was that patient.

I wish I was at times as well. However, it's unlikely the first few weeks/months will be that much fun anyway, what with any beta/buggy drivers and software issues that may rear their heads.

 

[rapid64k]

I think what is an important question is this, I for one reformat every so often as a spring clean is a good idea for your pc, in this instance would I be better off with retail than OEM.............................or would it be better to just wait and see what transpires

 

[Locky]

how many chances do you get with the retail version?

 

[lay-z-boy]

as many as you want, i think.

 

[Tom|Nbk]

I think what is an important question is this, I for one reformat every so often as a spring clean is a good idea for your pc, in this instance would I be better off with retail than OEM.............................or would it be better to just wait and see what transpires

As long as you don't change any hardware you can reformat with OEM as many times as you want the differenct is with retail is that you can change hardware AND reformat as many times as you want .